Summer League: Mavericks v. Blazers

The Mavericks already put a beating on the No. 2 pick in the draft, so I'm guessing they're looking forward to doing the same to the No. 1 pick. Dallas and Portland take the court today at 1 p.m. in the first game of the day in Las Vegas.

-- Jason Quick defends Greg Oden's first game. If you've already rushed to judgment regarding Oden based on a game played while sick and with less than a week of practice, then you've got no business being a fan of basketball. Maybe you'd be more suited to following professional bowling.

-- DeSagana Diop, despite being a seasoned veteran, is playing today for the Mavericks summer league team in hopes that it will help him get a bigger contract:

Gana has positioned himself really nicely," Johnson says. "Obviously, it's his option year, he's still relatively young and it's a great opportunity for him.

"It's kind of like building a brand in business. He's been in obscurity for a while, but now's his chance."

That's why Diop is in Las Vegas with the Mavericks' summer-league team, which plays No. 1 overall draft pick Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers at 3 p.m. today. It's almost unheard of for a player entering his seventh season - seventh! - to be at summer league. Incoming players are required to put in only two summers.

But Diop knows exactly what is at stake this summer and next season.

"Everybody says I'm too old for this, but I feel like playing here is going to give me more confidence, even though I didn't score [in Friday's opener]," Diop said. "I have to stay aggressive and shoot it. But at the end of the day, I'm going to do what I do, which is block shots and rebound."

And that's fine. That's what will keep Diop in the league at a nice salary after this season. But what the coaching staff must see from him is a hint that he can be an opportunistic scorer. Let's face it: when the Mavs have the ball, opponents ignore him.

If he can show the Mavericks - and the rest of the league - improvement in that area, along with keeping his defensive instincts, he can break the bank next summer.

-- And finally, I saved the best for last. On Friday, we were introduced to 1080 The Fan's ode to Greg Oden. But there's more than one way to serenade the big man through song. Thanks to "Romi153" for sending along his track "O'Denied" which he describes as "a whiteboy's take on the Oden tribute." If you think you're ready, you can listen to it here. Here are the lyrics:

Ricky roach is about
to turn his insides inside out.
Oden's 18s will tomp him dead.
O'Denied.

O'Denied. Posterized.
Mystified. Kobe Bryant.
See Portland's future
through his eyes.
Identified.
Shaq will pay for beating up Sabas.
Now who's the old man - you can't stop us.
Call that abuse, call it a bruise.
Come on grandpa, drink that prune juice.

No longer the big news - Yao and Timmy.
New kid in town, and he's just a bit bigger.
You can come inside, and you just try.
O'Denied.